Sunday, February 17, 2008

What are the advantages & disadvantages of having a press that is uncritical of government policy?

There are several advantages and disadvantages of having a press that is uncritical of government policies. Being uncritical suggests that the press is not inclined to judge and impose its views and stands on the government policies made.

The advantages of having a press that is uncritical of government policy are as follows:
When the press is uncritical of the government policies of a country, it will present various perspectives on the government policies. The press will provide information that both supports and goes against the policies. Hence this can greatly benefit society since people can learn about the pros and cons of the policies from a wide spectrum of sources. From there, they can sieve out information that they deem important and relevant to themselves. In addition, with a comprehensive knowledge about the policies, people will not be shortchanged of information that is pertinent to their lives. With an uncritical press, they can also make well-informed and more objective choices regarding the government policies and choose a stand which they are comfortable with. Furthermore, this develops society’s maturity level since people have to filter out relevant information, and it also heightens their awareness of the different voices and extensive points of the view on a certain issue.

Secondly, an uncritical press can prevent false accusations of the government presenting biased information to society. It is possible that the press may over sensationalise certain news to create headlines. The press may be overly sarcastic or critical of the government so as to grab the attention of readers to increase readership and sales. As a result, the government can be put in an extremely unfair position, even having its reputation tarnished, while society can be deprived of relevant and objective information. Having an uncritical press can allow society to understand policies and issues more objectively without being influenced by biased and extremist viewpoints. Over the long run, an uncritical press can prevent political unrest and resentment of the government due to one-sided viewpoints presented by the press. An uncritical press can therefore promote social security and stability within a country.

As an uncritical press presents reports from many sources, the government can gather suggestions and ideas from various viewpoints. This can serve to help the government constantly improve its policies through feedback from the public. Opposing stands can become pressure for the government to better its policies. Thus, society can benefit from the overall positive changes to existing and new policies.

On the other hand, there are disadvantages to having an uncritical press:
An uncritical press will allow the inflow and publication of information from as many sources as possible, presenting an extensive range of perspectives. We need to be aware of groups of people in society who are not media literate. They may not be discerning of this information, and may not be equipped with skills to sieve out objective viewpoints. As a result, they may be easily influenced by the reports provided, or may even be overwhelmed with the large amount of information and cannot make well-informed choices.

In addition, a society needs to understand the reasons for the formulation of certain government policies to ensure a peaceful coexistence of the society and the government. An uncritical press cannot provide a comprehensive report on the rationale of a government policy and its advantages to society without presenting opposing viewpoints. As a result, it may become increasingly difficult for the government to gain support from society for the newly formulated policies.
Cheong Li Min, Rachel Chin, Lim Shi Min, Sun Yi Yue, Tao Tao 09S03K

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